William Pitt

I

Introduction

William Pitt (1708-1778), prime minister of Great Britain (1766-1768), who led the country to victory over France in the Seven Years' War.

Pitt was born on November 15, 1708, in Westminster. The importance of the Pitt family had been established by Thomas Pitt, his grandfather, who gained a fortune in India. He was educated at Eton Public School and the University of Oxford and entered Parliament in 1735, representing a borough controlled by his family. He was an intense, forceful orator and became a prominent spokesman for the opposition during the ministry of Sir Robert Walpole. In 1739 the opposition pushed Walpole into war with Spain, and when Walpole failed to provide aggressive leadership, Pitt contributed to the political pressure that forced his resignation in 1742. King George II refused to give Pitt important political office, but in 1746 he was made paymaster of the army.

II

Pitt's First Ministry

Pitt's principal goal was imperial power. His opportunity came when war broke out with France in America in 1754 (see French and Indian War), becoming a general European war in 1756. Britain did badly at first, but in 1757 Pitt and Thomas Pelham-Holles, duke of Newcastle, joined to form a ministry that combined Newcastle's long political experience with Pitt's dynamic energy. Pitt attacked the French Empire boldly, giving commands to able and ambitious young officers. In a series of remarkable victories the British conquered Canada, the area between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River, the French West Indies, and the French trading posts in West Africa. The English East India Company destroyed French power in India. In the meantime Pitt used British gold to support Frederick II of Prussia, who was able to hold out against France, Austria, and Russia until an exhausted France was ready for peace.

The death of George II in 1760 changed the political situation, for his successor, the young George III, distrusted both Newcastle and Pitt and was determined to assert his own personal power. Pitt resigned in 1761 when his advice to attack Spain was rejected by the king and the cabinet. The following year Spain declared war, and the mighty forces that Pitt had assembled captured Florida, Havana, and Manila. Although the Treaty of Paris (1763) made Great Britain the dominant imperial power, Pitt criticized the treaty severely.

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III

Later Career

The rest of Pitt's life was marked by political frustration and ill health. In 1765 he defended American resistance to the Stamp Act. The following year George III made him earl of Chatham and turned to him to form a nonpartisan government that would end dissensions at home and unrest in the colonies. His second ministry was a failure; it fell apart in 1768, and his influence after that was negligible. In 1778 Pitt collapsed in the House of Lords while delivering a speech opposing American independence. He died at Hayes in Kent on May 11, 1778.

IV

Evaluation

Pitt was at his best leading the nation in war. His appeals to national pride and public opinion have led some historians to see him as a prototype of later democratic leaders, such as David Lloyd George and Sir Winston Churchill.

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